why not mix head brands?

Topics about drumhead suggestions? Countless.
You'll find every kind of suggestion in there: G2 over G1, Ambassador over Emperor, HD Dry over Hazy300 etc.

what you will most certainly not find is a suggestion of two different companies on one drum. why doesn't anyone suggest a coated ambassador over a hazy300 on a snare? is it some common knowledge that drumheads from different companies don't work well together (sounds dumb now that I re-read it haha), or is it something else? we mix cymbal brands in our sets, why not drumheads too?
 
Mixing brands on one drum probably wouldn't accomplish much. Using one brand on the snare, another on toms, and another on kick is do-able if you genuinely prefer a particular head on a particular drum. for me, the difference between reso heads is less of a factor than the difference between batters, so once I have a favorite batter, there's little if anything to gain by using another company's reso.

If there was one drum to reveal a noticeable difference or benefit, it would porobably be the kick, left wide open so that each head could do what it does without damping. But the difference wouldn't be worth investing in different brands just for the sake of doing so.

Bermuda
 
I mix different brands. They are all single ply clear heads, top and bottom. Any tone differences you may hear with different combinations of brands would probably be lost as soon as the band comes in. Right now I have clear ambassadors on all batters over Evans single ply clear genera resonant heads. The Evans are a bit brighter than regular 10 mil clear heads. But it's almost splitting hairs.
 
Neil Peart used to use Evans Looking Glass on the tops of his toms (discontinued), Evans Blue Hydraulic on the bottoms of his toms (both top and bottom had the original soft/flexible hoop), Remo Black (then later Clear) Dots on his snare and bass drums, Remo Black Dots or Ludwig Silver Dots on his concert toms, and clear Remo Ambassadors on his timbales.
 
Coated ambassador over evans hazy 300 is what I have on all my snares....I switched from evans coated g1 to remo coated ambassador on top cause I feel the remo coating is less plasticky feeling and sounding. The evans hazy resos were already on there and I left them. To me it sounds great...but I'm sure if I switched to remo resos it would also sound great.

For me the combo works on over 40 snares.
 
Too much thinking. I mainly stick with one brand because I might get a deal on a packaged set. If there wasn't that kind of incentive I might try Ludwig Silver Dots on the batter side and Remo Black Dots on the resonant side. For the snare drum too ;)
 
I tend to just buy Remo on my snares and tom because they can be found for cheaper online. The snare packs come with a coated single ply and reso, usually saves me a couple bucks.

On the kick however I am loving the combination of a coated Remo PS3 and an Aquarian Vintage with a felt strip, I believe it's the medium weight.
 
I always liked hazy 300 heads for the snare side... On top, I put aquarian studio x. Don't really care what brand is where, to be honest. My ear is the judge.
 
Currently Evans reverse dot over Remo snare side on all my snares. However I go through phases.
 
Topics about drumhead suggestions? Countless.
You'll find every kind of suggestion in there: G2 over G1, Ambassador over Emperor, HD Dry over Hazy300 etc.

what you will most certainly not find is a suggestion of two different companies on one drum. why doesn't anyone suggest a coated ambassador over a hazy300 on a snare? is it some common knowledge that drumheads from different companies don't work well together (sounds dumb now that I re-read it haha), or is it something else? we mix cymbal brands in our sets, why not drumheads too?

I think it's usually a reflection of the brand that the commenter prefers. So recommending Clear G2 over Clear G1 is often just as much a recommendation of Clear Emperors over Clear Ambassadors. At least that's how I take these recommendations; it's generally the types of head that get recommended, not necessarily the brands.

Of course, in some cases it's a case of one manufacturer offering a head type that others don't, like the Aquarian Hi-Energy or the Evans Hydraulic (at least I don't know of any directly comparably heads to these from other brands).
 
I think mixing brands is actually pretty common for most drummers. You don't see the big names doing it because they generally have a head endorsement so that may contribute to the perception.

Personally, a clear 10mil single ply head for example is just that. The label on it really doesn't matter and I usually consider them interchangeable. Differences in hoops, collar design etc could matter. If this 360 design Evans is doing to proves to have some substance that is something that could change things. I have not tried them yet so I don't know
 
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I have yet to purchase new heads since I got my kit a couple months ago. The snare, 8 and 10 all have Ludwig silver dots (Ludwig rocker snare side, 8 and 10 are concert toms), the 16 and 18 have covered ambs top and bottom, and the kick has a remo black dot. The kick reso is useless as it has a giant hole cut in it. Regardless, the kit sounds good even with the mix and match heads.
 
I use a mixture of Aquarian, Evans, and Remo on my kit. In spite of all the different models each company makes, they each have one or two unique heads that I prefer for a particular drum or specific purpose.

A good case in point is snare side head. I have two drums that require a no-collar head, so they get a Remo clear Ambassador no matter what batter I use. Until Evans or Aquarian make an equivalent, Remo's the only game in town.

In general I've found mixing and matching heads allows me to fine tune the exact characteristics I'm looking for with each drum, so that's what I do. Whether it's thinner heads on smaller drums and thicker heads on bigger drums or mixing different films and coatings to tweak sustain and balance of bright and dark, there are a lot of options out there. But those are things I've stumbled upon through trial and error, and I know just because it suits me and my drums doesn't mean it will work for anyone else so I tend to hold those kinds of suggestions back.

But here the original post almost always suggests a brand they are specifically interested in trying or not trying as the case may be. I usually try to honor those guidelines because I know how I feel when answers seem to completely ignore what I was actually asking. But it's also hard to avoid recommending "the standard" selections like G2 over G1 on toms or coated Ambassador over hazy Ambassador on snare just because I know it will get someone a good, versatile sound that they can get from just about any store.
 
Coated ambassador over evans hazy 300 is what I have on all my snares..

That's what I'm going (back) to. Been using G2s on my toms with a coated Ambassador on my snare for years. Recently re-headed everything and tried an HD Dry on the snare. Don't much care for the feel of it, and it certainly didn't improve the sound as the Ambassador always sounded great. I'll be going back to the Ambassador on the snare only, making me a brand-mixer again. The G2s have have always given me what I want out of my toms, though, and I don't see a reason to mess with that.
 
That's what I'm going (back) to. Been using G2s on my toms with a coated Ambassador on my snare for years. Recently re-headed everything and tried an HD Dry on the snare. Don't much care for the feel of it, and it certainly didn't improve the sound as the Ambassador always sounded great. I'll be going back to the Ambassador on the snare only, making me a brand-mixer again. The G2s have have always given me what I want out of my toms, though, and I don't see a reason to mess with that.

It's a hard combination to beat....but certainly not the "correct" way to go. Since I have a real hankering for snares, I just learned over time that the remo coated amb seemed to feel best and sound best for my taste...the g2 over g1 on toms is really nice. I keep thinking I will mess with it, but then I come back the next day and it sounds really good.

On the snare, whenever I've tried the coated g1 it seems to get a shiny spot where the majority of my hits are and I prefer the "rubbery" sorta feel that happens when the remo wears away to the clear film...to my ears it has more warmth and less of a plastic attack....whenever I have gone to reverse dots or sound control heads on the snare, I don't like the thick and somewhat thuddy sound....I use a rolled over piece of duct tape about an inch in from the edge to control any overtones I might not like. It's subtle but it works for me
 
The only difference I've personally found was with Aquarian Classic Clears, on toms, they sound darker which I wasn't going for. I swapped it out with an Evans and the bright punch was back.

I have evans resos but only because they came with my kit. I have an Aquarian Regulator on my kick drum. Top heads are Remos, kick is Evans EQ4, snare has a classic clear on it.
 
Hey - you can mix and match everything to your heart's content. When my average audience actually comes to me and says they heard something different than the usual drums and cymbals, then I'd start looking at what I'm using.

I've been playing for over 30 years now, and nobody has ever brought it up.
 
hey guys, thanks for all the replies.

of course you can mix head brands, that wasn't my initial question! I simply asked why people don't suggest mixed brands when someone asks about skins.
I guess bermuda answered it; too little differences between resonant heads to care.
 
hey guys, thanks for all the replies.

of course you can mix head brands, that wasn't my initial question! I simply asked why people don't suggest mixed brands when someone asks about skins.
I guess bermuda answered it; too little differences between resonant heads to care.

I usually tend to mention both Evans and Remo versions of a head when making recommendations about heads to someone, unless they ask for a particular brand. I don't have any experience with any other brand to the point where I would recommend a particular head.

I am very happy with Evans on my toms and kick, but I have noticed that Remo Coated CS have a much more immediate sweet sound on my snares than the Evans Power Center Reverse Dot. Next head change I will be A/B testing them to see which I prefer for the long term. When I get my vintage Ludwigs put together, I will be starting out with Evans heads, but I may try some vintage Emps on them for a different sound.

Until I get big enough to start calling out endorsements, it's my life and I do what I want!
 
all of my toms have the same heads on them. people can do what they like. For me, if I like the sound a head makes on my kit, why not use the same head on all of my toms?
 
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